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Jason Todd (New Earth)
Catherine was a drug addict and died from an overdose, while his father had once worked for Two-Face and was murdered by the criminal. Legally an orphan, Jason lived in his father's apartment in a derelict building in Crime Alley, where he turned to crime out of necessity. Jason became highly skilled in stealing tires from vehicles and during one of his usual thefts, he met Batman as he stole the Batmobile's wheels. Jason was taken by Batman to a school run by Ma Gunn, hoping to reform the young man. However, Jason soon realized Gunn conducted illegal activities with the youngsters at her “school” and he escaped. When Batman located him, Jason informed him about Gunn's crimes and even assisted Batman in capturing her gang, after which Jason was taken in by Batman as the new Robin at the age of 12.Letter Page Robin After six months of training, Jason was ready to go into action as the new Boy Wonder. In his early adventures, Robin assisted Batman against notable criminals like Two-Face, Magpie, Mime, the Crime Doctor, The KGBeast, Deacon BlackfireBatman: The Cult and the Dumpster Slasher. While working on this last case, Jason became more aggressive and driven against criminals. Unlike Batman's first protegee Dick Grayson, Jason was impulsive, reckless, and full of rage. After a first meeting with his predecesor, Jason struck a good enough friendship with Nightwing and during a troubled time for the Titans, Jason is recruited by Donna Troy to help on a mission. Jason becomes frustrated by the situation when Donna expects him to figure out plans and save everyone, like Dick would. A Death in the Family Jason's violent methods against crooks eventually caused the death of a criminal. Jason's attitude got him and Batman in troubles, but he showed no sign of slowing down. Instead, Jason became more reckless until he was forbidden from going out as Robin. During those moments, Jason learned the truth about his real mother and doing more investigation, he tracked down the possible persons to the Middle East. Going alone at first, Jason was soon joined by Batman, who was following the trail of the Joker, who had recently escaped from Arkham. Jason and Bruce managed to foil Joker's plans to deal with terrorists, but they failed to capture the madman. With the crisis averted, Jason and Bruce resumed their quest to find Jason's real mother and eventually, they located her in Ethiopia. Shelia Haywood was working as part of the relief efforts for the refugees and once she was reunited with Jason, she told him the truth about their past. Unfortunately, Sheila had a criminal record which Joker used to blackmail her and use her for his own profits. Shelia tried to keep this from Jason, but he soon spotted Joker in the place and he followed the madman and his mother to a warehouse. After learning Joker's plan, Jason alerted Batman, who set out to stop a truck filled with Joker Venom. Meanwhile, Robin went to save his mother from Joker, but he was lured into a trap by her, who was also crooked and couldn't risk being exposed. In the warehouse, Robin was beaten to a bloody pulp by the Joker, using a crowbar. Joker then tied Sheila to a post and planted a bomb in the warehouse, leaving mother and son to die. Jason recovered and untied his mother, but they were unable to escape and the bomb exploded, killing them both. Batman arrived too late to save them and all he could do was fix the crime scene to protect Jason's identity and later, he made the arrangements to have their bodies returned to Gotham and properly buried. For years, Jason's death haunted Batman, as he considered this his greatest failure: not properly training Jason in his role as Robin and failing to protect him from the Joker. Nonetheless, he used this experience to not make the same mistakes with the third Robin, Tim Drake. Return from the Grave and the Lost Days Out of love for Batman and the desire to make him love her again, Talia took Jason to her father and Jason spent months in the care of the League of Assassins. Although his body recuperated, Jason's mind was shattered. Seeing no other way to help him, Talia took Jason to the Lazarus Pit and threw his body in while her father was regenerating himself. Jason was fully revived in both body and mind.In order to stall him from killing Batman, Talia aided Jason financially and provided information in order to help him recover his life back. After a period of time, Jason is discovered and approached by Hush to participate in a game against Batman. While Batman attempts to uncover the mystery of Hush, Robin (Tim Drake) is kidnapped and taken to the cemetery where Jason was buried. When he confronts the kidnapper he discovers, much to his surprise, that the kidnapper is apparently Jason Todd. During the fight, Jason trades places with Clayface, who impersonates Jason for the end of the fight. Following the battle with Hush, Batman begins seeing visions of Jason. They appear to be the result of Scarecrow's fear gas, but Alfred finds Jason's mask in the batmobile, following one of the visions. As the Red Hood Shortly after Black Mask became the undisputed crime lord of Gotham, Jason Todd reappeared in Gotham City as the Red Hood, taking control of the drug dealing racket. A few days later, Red Hood led Batman and Nightwing to a warehouse where they had to fight Amazo. After this, Red Hood called Black Mask and informed him that he stole the Kryptonite shipment form him. Black Mask sent Mr. Freeze to eliminate Red Hood and during the battle, Batman and Nightwing arrived and all of them started fighting. In the midst of the battle, Red Hood escaped leaving the Kryptonite behind and told them he has gotten what he truly wanted: a "lay of the land." Shortly afterward, the Red Hood found the Joker and beat him with a crowbar just as the Joker had beaten Jason. The Red Hood assumed control over several gangs in Gotham City and started a one-man-war against Black Mask's criminal empire. Red Hood met Onyx and after teaming up with her and crashing a drug dealer meeting, he stabbed her when she turned against him. Batman arrived in time to stop Red Hood from hurting her more and they fought each other. By the end of the fight, Red Hood unmasked Bruce and he revealed his identity to Bruce, who was utterly in shock to learn that Jason was alive. Later, Jason broke into Titans Tower to confront Tim Drake, the new Robin. Wearing an altered version of his own Robin costume, Jason immobilized the other Titans and struck Tim down in the Tower's Hall of Fallen Titans and after a furious battle, Jason finally defeated Tim. Jason left the place and tore the 'R' emblem from Tim's chest. A few days later, Jason started attacking Black Mask's illegal rackets again, only this time with a much more relentless approach. Soon, Jason found Black Mask's hideout and used a rocket launcher to destroy the place. This caused Black Mask to join Deathstroke and the Secret Society of Super Villains, much to Jason's dismay. The Society sent Captain Nazi, Hyena, and Count Vertigo to eliminate Red Hood, but they were defeated by the combined forces of Red Hood and Batman. After the fight and apparently killing Captain Nazi, Jason left the place, giving Batman a morale lesson. Some time later, Jason used a decoy to trick Black Mask and Batman. Meanwhile, he held the Joker hostage and lured Batman to Crime Alley, the site of their first meeting. Jason and Batman fought for a while until Jason led Batman to the place where he was holding Joker. Jason asked Batman why he has not avenged his death by killing Joker, and Batman told Jason that he will never cross that line. Jason tried to force Batman to kill Joker or Jason, but at the last moment, Batman threw a batarang that ricocheted back to Jason's shoulder. The Joker took advantage of the situation and detonated some explosives that destroyed the entire building. One Year Later Jason resurfaces one year after the Infinite Crisis patrolling the streets of New York City as a murderous version of Nightwing. Jason shows no intention of giving up the Nightwing persona, and continues to taunt Dick Grayson by wearing the costume and suggesting that the two become a crime-fighting team. Grayson refuses to join his side and methods of crime-fighting. Not long after the two Nightwings meet up, Jason is captured and imprisoned by unknown mobsters. Rescued by a reluctant Grayson, the two join forces to defeat the Pierce brothers. Jason leaves New York City and the Nightwing mantle to Grayson, along with a telegram telling Grayson he has returned to normal and still considers them family. Jason resumed his Red Hood persona and worked alongside Brick as part of a gun-running organization in Star City, which brought the attention of Batman. Jason's true motives are shown as he kidnaps Mia Dearden (Speedy) in an effort to convert her to his side, feeling that they are kindred spirits, cast down by society and at odds with their mentors. The two fight while conversing but when Jason is unsuccessful in his bid to turn Mia, he settles for blowing up her High School. Mia is deeply troubled by what transpired between her and Jason, but ultimately decides to stick with Green Arrow. -72 Countdown Jason came upon and rescues a woman from Duela Dent (aka the "Joker's Daughter"). While pursuing Dent, Jason witnessed a Monitor shoots and kills Duela, and then attempts to kill Jason, but is stopped by a second Monitor. This second Monitor apologizes to Jason before they both disappear, leaving Jason alone with Duela's body. Later, at Duela's funeral, Jason hides until all of the Teen Titans have left except Donna Troy. Jason tells her what happened the night of Duela's death, and about the dueling Monitors. He knows that both he and Donna Troy have come back from the dead, and wonders which of them is next on the Monitor's hit list. The two are then attacked by the Forerunner, an agent of the Monitors. But before she can kill them, the apologetic Monitor stops her, and recruits Jason and Donna for a mission to find Palmer in the Multiverse. During the trip, Jason takes it upon himself to name the Monitor "Bob." On Earth-51, Jason encountered that world's Batman. This version of Batman had begun using lethal force since his Jason died. Jason and the Earth-51 Batman developed a sort of bond in which Batman gives Jason a new costume and the code name Red Robin. The Earth-51 Batman had originally planned to give those to his Jason prior to his death. Jason dons the Red Robin suit and goes into battle alongside Earth-51 Batman against Monarch. During a battle with a group of Monarch's soldiers, Batman is killed by the Ultraman of Earth-3, deeply affecting Jason. In his grief, Jason murders an alternate version of the Joker who mocks his loss, vacating alongside Donna, Ray and Kyle to the planet Apokolips before Earth-51's destruction. After the group is sent back to Earth, Jason leaves the group and returns to his crime fighting ways, and disposes of his Red Robin costume. Battle for the Cowl After the apparent death of Batman, Gotham fell into turmoil without its champion. Jason was summoned to the Batcave by Tim Drake, who told him that Bruce had left something similar to a last will for all of them, including Jason. After listening to Bruce's last message for him, Jason left the cave telling Drake that they will see each other soon. Later, Jason donned his own version of the Batsuit, heavily armed and using the cowl previously owned by Bat-Devil. He fought the expanding crime wave but with extreme brutality and he pinned a note to his victims with the words "I Am Batman". Jason's exploits started to be noticed by the Batman Family and he revealed himself for the first time to Nightwing and Damian, saving them from several Black Mask enforcers. Nightwing tried to bring Jason down, but the fight stopped when Jason shot Damian and he managed to escape. Jason kept killing and torturing Black Mask enforcers until his secret base was discovered by Tim Drake and Catwoman. Jason knocked Catwoman unconscious and after a long fight with Tim, he finally stabbed him in the chest and left him to die. Jason went out on a killing spree until Catwoman found him and they fought for a short time. Jason won the fight by kicking Catwoman off an overpass, causing her to lose consciousness. Jason returned to his cave, where he prepared Tim's body to surprise Nightwing. However, Tim survived the attack and escaped from Jason, allowing Nightwing to defeat him after a long battle. During his defeat, Jason decided to let himself fall to the river with the promise of coming back. The Red Hood's Vendetta ]] Following his battle with Dick, Jason gave up his claim to Batman's mantle, which has befallen to Dick. As a result, Jason set out to become Dick's direct competition. He reworked his Red Hood identity to be more dramatic and attention-grabbing by creating a costume for it, being very similar to the original Red Hood outfit the Joker had used. Also, he stopped dying his hair black and allowed it to grow red again with a small gray streak left by his previous exposure to a Lazarus Pit. To complete his transformation, he even found himself a sidekick, Scarlet, the daughter of a criminal and the victim of Professor Pyg's practice of mutilation. His intent was for them to become Gotham City's new dynamic duo, supplanting the old one. With his new partner, Jason resumed his brutal and lethal methods of dealing with criminals, but now there was a twist. Using the media and internet, he exposed his methods to the public and actively marketed them as the way things should be done. Public opinion was actually at least somewhat in his favor, especially after he showed Batman and Robin protecting the Penguin from him and Scarlet. He was able to keep ahead of Batman and Robin, getting to criminals first and evading their attempts to apprehend him. That lasted until he tracked down Gabriel Santo who managed to escape Jason. Batman and Robin arrived to stop them, and the two duos fought. The fight went in Jason's favor. Instead of the two heroes capturing him, he captured them, stripped them naked, and locked them out of his way for the time being. His plan was to reveal to the world on a web-cam, the identities of Batman and Robin, if the public offered enough attention to it. It was then that Jason and Scarlet were ambushed by an assassin called Flamingo. He took two shots from a sniper's rifle, shattering his helmet. While Batman and Robin escaped from his trap, Jason and Scarlet attempted to combat against Flamingo. However both of them proved inferior to Flamingo's skills, and it was only with the timely arrival of Batman and Robin that they were not killed. Jason used the dynamic duo as a cover, proceeded to crush Flamingo with a truck, while Damian threw himself in front of an attack to save Scarlet, leaving him crippled. Scarlet escaped, and Jason was again taken into police custody. Grayson offered to rehabilitate Todd who, in a moment of clarity, tells Grayson it's too late for him, and how he tried to be what Batman wanted, "but this world...this dirty, twisted, cruel and ugly dung-heap had...other plans for me." He then proceeds to fall back into his hero persona, ranting how he did what Batman never did. He "...defeated his archenemy." Todd is arrested by Commissioner James Gordon who informs him that the reason he has always worked with Batman is that Batman never violates the law "where it counts." As Gordon leads him away, Todd tauntingly asks Grayson why he hasn't put Wayne's corpse into a Lazarus Pit to bring him back, citing his own resurrection from its bath. Jason files an appeal to be moved from Arkham Asylum where he's been held for observation for the last several months. Bruce Wayne as Batman visits him there to inform Jason he's in Arkham for his own protection. Jason pointed out he passed all the psychological tests repeatedly and there's no reason to keep him in what he calls Batman's "kennel of freaks." Jason was transferred to a Gotham prison and upon his arrival, the suicide rate spikes among top incarcerated crime figures there. Several homicides occur due to many botched attempts on Jason's life by inmates with a grudge against the Red Hood's tactics. Jason escalated things further by poisoning the cafeteria, killed 82 and sickened 100 more inmates. He was immediately transferred back to Arkham but was broken out of the paddy wagon by a group of mercenaries. The mercenaries revealed they are under orders to bring Jason to the person that hired them and that he is in no danger. Jason broke free and fought them off all the same as Batman and Robin arrive. Once the hired guns were subdued they reveal their employer has captured Jason's former sidekick; Scarlet. Dick, Damian, and Jason go to one of the Red Hood's weapon caches where he assembles a composite costume made from his biker and "superhero" Red Hood attire. After Batman and Robin defeated the mercenaries, Jason rescued Scarlet and escaped using a helicopter. Batman and Robin attempt to chase him, but Jason tells them that he planted bombs over Gotham City months ago. Scarlet desires to stay with Red Hood as his partner, so they headed towards an unknown destination. | Powers = | Abilities = * : In his training as Robin he has been taught acrobatics. He further practices his abilities as the Red Hood even going so far as to chase the Batman Family around just to test his speed. * : Jason has driven a variety of vehicles from cars and boats, to being trained in the Middle East by an ace pilot to fly helicopters. * : Having been trained by Batman, Jason has perfect aim when using batarangs and later, firearms. To increase his skill with firearms he went a step further than Batman on his journey around the world to learn from the masters how to kill a target with different types of guns. * : Jason has received excellent education and tutoring from Batman, and thus has extensive knowledge of various subjects, which include Science, Mathematics, Forensic Medicine, Geography, History, and Leadership. He has also proven to be a highly efficient criminal strategist and organise as the Red Hood. :* :* : Taught by a world renowned bomb expert in Russia, Jason is able to assemble and defuse a wide variety of conventional explosive devices, from improvised to military grade designs. :* : Taught by Batman, Jason is fluent in several languages having spoken English, French, German, Italian and various others with Russian being his weakest. * : Jason has shown some skill as a detective. * : Jason Todd is a highly skilled combatant, showing his skill in fighting Nightwing and even Batman. He has defeated Tim Drake at Titans Tower. Jason's fighting style focuses on brutality, strength, and speed; he is shown to have studied over half-a dozen fighting styles and has proven to be a master of Aikido, Capoeira, Karate, Ninjutsu, Savate, Krav Maga, Kickboxing, and Tae Kwon Do. He has received extensive training from Batman, and after his resurrection, had traveled the world, learning every form of martial arts he could, just as Batman did. * : Although contradictory to his once childish nature, Jason's learned to survey his targets before attacking and killing them. He spends long hours scouting targets and assuring that they deserve his brand of justice. * : Jason has shown to be skilled enough to hold his own against the Green Arrow in a sword fight until he ultimately lost. * : Jason is an expert marksman and highly skilled with throwing weapons, such as batarangs and knives. * : Jason is highly skilled in the use of many weapons, including firearms and knives. | Strength = | Weaknesses = Rage: Jason's most notable weakness is his rage. Batman and numerous others have told him that his rage blinds him in battle to the point of leaving physical and mental weak points open for attacks. Recently, Jason has made steps to putting the past behind him and has become a more disciplined and controlled fighter as a result of recalling his time with the All-Caste. | Equipment = * Red Hood Costume: Following his resurrection, Jason took on the Joker's old mantle of the Red Hood. His interpretation however involved denim jeans, biker boots, a t-shirt, and a biker's jacket. He wears two masks, the first being a red-domino mask, fixed in place with spirit gum, and includes a built-in radio transmitter/receiver and Starlite night-vision lenses. His gauntlets and boots each contain eight compartments in which he can store items. His second mask was a metallic red hood, which offered many of the same functions as his mask, thought also added better protection for his face. * Robin Costume: After becoming Robin, Todd received Dick Grayson's old Robin costume. It included a fabric tunic, that offered limited protection against bullets and blunt attacks, a yellow cape, green shorts and pixie-boots. The Tunic offered little to no resistance against gunfire. His utility belt carried batarangs, grappling hooks, gas pellets and assorted other bat-related weapons. * Red Robin Costume: The costume originally worn by the Jason Todd of Earth-51, and worn towards the end of his stint with the Challengers from Beyond. Similar in some ways to Tim Drake's costume, this costume offered many of the same protections and functions, although it had added glider capability in the cape, and assorted Robin-esque weaponry. * Batman Costume: Unlike the conventional Batman costume, Jason's version was far more militaristic, with heavier body armor of gray and black. Rather than the normal cowl design, the pointed ears were made to look more like devil horns, and the lenses glowed red giving him a far more demonic appearance. The mouth of the of the mask was covered with a gas-mask type device. Rather than carrying the normal non-lethal utility belt, Jason's was filled with assorted lethal weaponry. | Transportation = * Batmobile * Batcycle | Weapons = *'Gadgets:' following his resurrection,Kord Industriesgives Jason access to Batman-level weaponry and gadgets. *'Firearms:' Jason often uses his handguns in battle and has shown access to firearms of high-caliber, including RPG's. | Notes = * This version of Jason Todd was adapted by Max Allan Collins and Chris Warner from the original character created by Gerry Conway and Don Newton. Jason Todd would later become Red Hood, an anti-hero adapted from the original Red Hood created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. | Trivia = | Recommended = * Batman: The Killing Joke * Batman: A Death in the Family * Batman: Under the Hood * Teen Titans (Volume 3) #29 * Nightwing: Brothers in Blood * Green Arrow: Road to Jericho * Countdown to Final Crisis :* The Search for Ray Palmer * Red Hood: The Lost Days | Wikipedia = Jason Todd | DC = None | Links = * Jason Todd article at Titanstower.com * Jason Todd (Pre-Flashpoint) bio at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe * Jason Todd (Post-Flashpoint) bio at the Unofficial Guide to the New DC Universe }} Category:Formerly Deceased Category:Sidekicks